<p id=”par-1_35″>In 1969, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/ringo-starr/?swcfpc=1″>Ringo Starr</a> recorded <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/the-beatles/?swcfpc=1″>The Beatles</a> song “Get Back.” In 1972, Ringo Starr released a solo song that had some strikingly similar elements to The Beatles’ hit. He admitted he copied part of the song.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-ringo-starr-took-inspiration-from-a-beatles-song-in-his-career-as-a-solo-nbsp-artist”>Ringo Starr took inspiration from a Beatles song in his career as a solo artist</h2>
<p id=”par-2_46″>Much of The Beatles’ experience recording <em>Let It Be</em> was agonizing. Beatles producer George Martin said the album was such an “unhappy” one that he was <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/producer-george-martin-shocked-beatles-recorded-misery-let-believed-end-beatles.html/”>surprised the band reunited</a> to record <em>Abbey Road</em> (per <em>The Beatles Anthology</em>). Still, there were some bright spots in the recording process. Starr said they enjoyed working together when they felt they were recording a good track.</p>
<p id=”par-3_27″>“‘Get Back’ was a good track. I felt, ‘This is a kick-a** track.’ ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ also,” Starr said. “They were two fine tracks. Quite simple and raw — back to basics.”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-1″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe title=”Ringo Starr – Back Off Boogaloo” width=”925″ height=”694″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/BXg1AxBXN5g?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<p id=”par-4_15″>He liked “Get Back” so much that he borrowed part of it for his own 1972 song, “Back Off Boogaloo.”</p>
<p id=”par-5_22″>“I’d done a hook to the track in ‘Get Back’ which sounded good and it’s been copied since — by myself, in fact, in ‘Back Off Boogaloo,’” Starr said. “That’s perfectly allowed by me!”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-ringo-starr-once-accidentally-copied-another-artist-while-working-on-a-beatles-nbsp-song”>Ringo Starr once accidentally copied another artist while working on a Beatles song</h2>
<p id=”par-6_30″>Starr once accidentally lifted elements of another song, and it wasn’t one of his own. McCartney fondly recalled a time when Starr spent hours working on a song, and the result was <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/ringo-starr-discovered-brilliant-song-wrote-actually-bob-dylan-hit.html/”>a Bob Dylan hit</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-7_47″>“I was always pretty keen not to repeat other people’s tunes, because it’s very easy to do when you write,” he said, per the book<em> Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now</em> by Barry Miles. “Ringo’s got a funny story of the most brilliant song he ever wrote. He spent three hours writing a very famous Bob Dylan song.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_12″>McCartney said the rest of The Beatles did not have much sympathy for Starr’s efforts.</p>
<p id=”par-9_24″>“We all fell about and laughed,” he said. “That can happen. You say, ‘This is so great,’ and someone says, ‘Yeah, it’s number one at the moment.’ ‘Ah, that’s where I heard it.’”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-back-off-boogaloo-nbsp-had-another-connection-to-the-beatles”>‘Back Off Boogaloo’ had another connection to The Beatles</h2>
<p id=”par-10_19″>The hook from “Get Back” is not the only Beatles element in “Back Off Boogaloo.” Harrison helped his former bandmate write the song.</p>
<p id=”par-11_19″>“I didn’t have the talent to end a song,” Starr said, per <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8346989/Ringo-Starr-asked-George-Harrison-advice-didnt-talent-end-song.html” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The Daily Mail</a>. “With ‘Back Off Boogaloo,’ I went to George and he helped me finish it.”</p>
<p id=”par-12_18″>Some believe the connection goes further than that. Many have speculated that Starr wrote the song <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/even-ringo-wrote-a-mean-song-about-paul-mccartney-after-the-beatles-broke-up.html/”>about McCartney’s solo music</a>.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” fetchpriority=”high” width=”1200″ height=”1097″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney sit together on the same side of a table. They wear gray suits.” class=”wp-image-3656870″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg?w=547&h=500 547w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg?w=1024&h=936 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg?w=768&h=702 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg?w=383&h=350 383w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg?w=185&h=169 185w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg?w=200&h=183 200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg?w=555&h=507 555w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ringo-Paul.jpg?w=66&h=60 66w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney | Archivio Cicconi/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/john-lennon-type-fan-fool-nobody-needs-concert.html/”>
John Lennon on the Type of Fan Who’s a ‘Fool Nobody Needs’ at a Concert </a>
</p>
</div>
<p id=”par-13_21″>“Get yourself together now/ And give me something tasty/ Everything you try to do/ You know it sure sounds wasted,” he sings.</p>
<p id=”par-14_13″>While this sounds a bit harsh coming from Starr, he openly <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/ringo-starr-said-paul-mccartneys-music-made-disappointed-sad-wasted-time.html/”>admitted that he didn’t like</a> McCartney’s album <em>Ram</em>.</p>
<p id=”par-15_47″>“I feel sad with Paul’s albums because I believe he’s a great artist, incredibly creative, incredibly clever but he disappoints me on his albums,” Starr said, per <em>The Beatles Diary Vol. 2</em>, adding, “I don’t think there’s one tune on the last one Ram … I just feel he’s wasted his time, it’s just the way I feel … he seems to be going strange.”</p>